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A DESCRIPTION OF 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 



BY 



EDWARD G. WARD 

Superintendent of Schools, Brooklyn, New York 




4. /v;/^; 



SILVER, BURDETT & COMPANY 

NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 

1900 



64484 .,,.■ 

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UBLISHSRS OF SCHOOL AND CoLLEGB TkXT-BoOKS, MuSICAL InSTRUCTXOK BOCX 

Standard Literature. 

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Copyright, igoo, by Silver, Bl'Rdett & Company. 



Office' oVthf 

JUN 1 6 !»UU ^ DESCRIPTION OF 
Regitttr of Copyrlgiitti 

THE RATIONA'L METHOD IN READING 

By EDWARD G. WARD 

Supei'hitendent of Schools, Brooklyn, Xeio Yo7'k 

To make apparent the conditions that gave rise to the 
Rational Method in Reading, as well as to provide a proper 
basis for the discussion of that method, it will be necessary 
— first, to consider what reading is — and second, to exam- 
ine briefly the several methods that have been employed in 
teaching it. 

Reading is tliovght-getting through ivord-getting ; thought- 
getting being the purpose or fulfillment, word-getting the 
means. The process then is a double one, mechanical and 
intellectual, and both mechanical and intellectual skill are 
necessary to its accomplishment. 

In the teaching of reading, no method can be called good un- 
less it leads to independence and rajndity in word-getting, and 
prevents word-getting from interfering with thought-getting. 

The power of getting words quickly is the first essential 
to thought-getting from the written or printed text; and 
only when the word-getting has become so rapid as to be 
almost automatic, or the mind has become trained to attend- 
ing to the mechanical part of the work without neglecting 
the intellectual, can it be said that word-getting does not 
interfere with thought-getting. 

Primary schools, nearly everywhere, are to-day sending 
out children who have labored four years to learn to read, 
and yet are not ready or intelligent readers, because slow- 
ness and uncertainty in word-getting remain as obstacles to 
thought-getting. 

During my day no less than three methods of teaching 

1 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

reading have been in vogue, each possessing a certain 
strength, and each a certain weakness. 

The first of these, the method by which I myself learned 
to read, was the a, b, c, or spelling method. Under this 
method, the first step was to teach the letters of the alpha- 
bet from a to z, inclusive. Next followed simple exercises 
in spelling, such as b-a, ba ; b-e, be ; etc. When the little 
ones had acquired a certain proficiency in the recognition 
of these meaningless combinations, they were introduced tO' 
the book, where they stumbled along, spelling out the words 
one at a time, and rarely, in the earlier stages of the work, 
getting the slightest glimpse of a thought. The mechanical 
effort required for the mastery through spelling of each 
successive word, completely obliterated the idea conveyed 
by the preceding one, and the child reached the end of the 
sentence with nothing in mind but the last word. It was 
not until they had read in this way many hundred times^ 
and, by dint of going over the commoner words again and 
again, had come to know them as wholes, that the children 
really began to read in the sense of getting thought from 
the printed page. And even then they read slowly and 
imperfectly, for before reaching that point they had formed 
a habit of reading mechanically, a habit that clung to many 
of them for years, to many, in greater or less degree, for life. 

The strength of the method lay in the fact that through 
spelling it provided a key, albeit an extremely clumsy one, 
the mastery of which made the pupil, so far as mere word- 
getting was concerned, an independent reader. Its weak- 
ness I have already described. 

The next method tried was the pure phonetic method. 
It was employed here and there for a while, but never came 
into general use, and never lasted long anywhere. Both its 
strength and its weakness were largely identical with the 
strength and the weakness respectively of the a-b-c method. 
Like that method it provided a key, and this key was better 

2 



mi 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

than the other, inasmuch as the sounds of the letters were 
taught instead of their names ; so that, theoretically, at least, 
all the child had to do to determine a word, was to call off 
its successive sounds and notice what their combination 
produced. The weakness bf the method lay, first, in the 
difficulty the children experienced in perceiving the blend, a. 
difficulty greatly enhanced by the fact that the letters (as 
signs of sounds) were taught too rapidly and in a wrong 
order ; and second, in the fact that, even when the blend was. 
quite readily perceived, there was, as in the a-b-c method, 
so much mechanical effort required, as to render intellectual 
effort almost impossible. 

Rather more than a quarter of a century ago, some gen- 
ius, perceiving that the greatest stumbling block in acquir- 
ing the art of reading lay in the separation of ideas by the 
intervention of mechanical work, conceived the plan of 
teaching words as loholes, so that in reading sentences com- 
posed of words previously taught, the mind of the child, 
meeting with no intervening obstacles, might pass smoothly 
from idea to idea, and readily grasp the thought. 

Thus was invented the famous word method, — a method 
which, in its legitimate application to the first work in read- 
ing, has done wonders for the little ones ; but which, unhap- 
pily, not having been confined to such application, has, in 
the later stages of the work, largely, if not wholly, undone 
the benefits it conferred in the earlier ; with the net result 
that to-day, where this method is exclusively employed, the 
reading is little if any better at the end of the third year of 
school life than it was twenty-five or thirty years ago. 

The old a-b-c method, if it was clumsy and mechanical, 
at all events, provided the child with a key by which, 
unassisted, he could get at new words himself. In requir- 
ing him to use this key, it called upon him to work out to 
a large extent his own salvation, and so practiced him in 
conquering difficulties and made him independent. 

3 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

The word method, or its later development the sentence 
method, does nothing of the kind. It keeps the child in 
absolute dependence upon some one else to tell him the 
new words, his own effort being confined to memorizing 
them, and the reading exercises in no way tending to 
develop within him a spirit of self-reliance. When, after 
the first term or two, new words come along, as they must, 
at the rate of fifteen or twenty to the lesson, his memory 
fails to keep pace with the demands made upon it, and his 
reading lessons are filled with obstacles to thought-getting, in 
the shape of unlearned or half-learned words, quite as formi- 
dable as those that existed when the old method was used. 
The legitimate function of the word or sentence method as 
the sole means of teaching reading ceases at the end of the 
second or third month. After the child has acquired a 
habit of looking for the thought in what he reads, it is 
illogical, absurd, and impracticable to insist upon his learn- 
ing a complete reading or speaking vocabulary, one word at 
a time. One of our oldest and wisest Brooklyn principals 
fitly stigmatizes the word method thus overdone, as the 
Chinese Method. If I were compelled to choose between 
the word method and the a-b-c method to do the whole 
work, I should select the latter without a moment of 
hesitation. 

No one will dispute, I think, that the acquirement of the 
art of reading constitutes at least half of any education; 
for, after all that may be done for him by others, the main 
work of educating any human being must be performed by 
himself; and reading so multiplies one's powers for the 
acquisition of both knowledge and culture, that to overrate 
its value would be impossible. No one, either, will deny 
the great desirability of such a method of teaching this art 
as will make an intelligent reader of the child within two 
years of his first admission to school. Nothing else so 
matures a child's mind as reading. Universal experience, I 

4 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 



think, will bear me out in the assertion that a child of eight 
that reads well is, for all school work, more than the equal 
of a child of ten that does not. If, then, we would shorten 
by a year or two the time that children are obliged to spend 
in the elementary schools, we must, above all, secure early 
proficiency in reading; and since it is evident that this 
cannot be obtained through the use of either the alphabetic 
or the word method, something better must be employed. 

It was these considerations that led me some years ago 
into a course of study and experiment that resulted in the 
development of what has since been called the Rational 
Method in Heading. 

This method is now in use in nearly all the schools of 
Brooklyn; in many of which, marvelous results have been 
obtained. In those schools in wdiich it has been mastered, 
the time formerly devoted to the acquirement of a reading 
vocabulary of two hundred words, now gives the children 
one of more than a thousand, while their enunciation is 
clearer, and their reading is more spirited and in every 
other respect better than formerly. Nor does the improve- 
ment end here; for it is a matter of general observation 
where this method is employed, that in all their studies the 
pupils do far more to help themselves, than they did before 
its introduction. 

The rational method is a peculiar combination of the sen- 
tence and the phonetic method. It utilizes each for that part 
of the work to which it is more particularly adapted. The 
sentence method is used, first as principal, because of its 
value in developing a habit of reading thoughtfully, and 
afterward as auxiliary, to remedy the shortcomings of the 
phonetic method, and increase the stock of word phonograms. 
The phonetic method, which is introduced by easy stages 
during the ascendency of the sentence method, finally 
becomes itself the principal means of growth and progress. 

5 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

Its proper use develops great power, while it supplies the 
key which the other method is inadequate to give. 

The presentation of the phonetic part of the work is in 
many important respects unlike any presentation of phonics 
formerly made, the differences being based upon principles 
not hitherto clearly understood, or, at any rate, not properly 
recognized. 

I claim for the rational method when intelligently ^ fol- 
lowed : — 

1. That it makes the child a thoughtful reader. 

2. That it not only makes him independent in his read- 
ing, but that it also assists greatly in making him generally 
self-7'eUant. 

3. That it enables him to read a vastly greater amount 
than heretofore in a given time, "and thus to acquire both a 
fuller vocabulary, and greater maturity of mind. 

4. That it puts him into possession, during the first year 
and a half of school life, of a complete key to the language, 
so that, no matter how soon thereafter his schooling may 
cease, his ability to read is assured. 

Before going further, it will be necessary for me to ex- 
plain a few technical terms that belong to the method, as I 
shall have to use several of them in what follows. These 
terms are : — 

.1. Sight word. — A word that has been taught as a whole, 
and is therefore recognized by sight alone. 

2. Sight reading. — The reading of sight words either 
singly or in sentences. 

3. Phonogram. — A written or printed representation of 
a sound, either simple or compound. 

Examples : f , S, 1, illg, igllt. 

4. Simple x>honogram. — A phonogram containing but 

one letter. _ ^ 

Examples: S, 1, 0. 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

(Excei^ting i, which represents a union of the sounds 
of a and e, the simple phonograms stand for one sound 
each.) 

5. Compound phonogram. — A phonogram containing 
more than one letter. 

Examples: illg, igllt, ip, 1111, IIGSS. 

(Every compound phonogram represents a compound 
sound, which, however, is taught as a unit.) 

6. Phonetic word. — A word to be read by means of its 
phonograms. 

7. Phonetic reading. — The reading of phonetic words 
•either singly or in sentences. 

8. Word p)honogram. — A sight word used as a phono- 
gram in the representation of a longer word. 

Examples: olcl 111 fold, ail ill scdl, ail ill 7nan. 

The following are the leading features of the phonetic 
part of the work : — 

1. The presentation of the sounds and their symbols 
(phonograms) m a rational order ; that is, an order in which 
the easier precede the harder. The easiest sounds to use in 
phonetic reading are those that may be indefinitely pro- 
longed, and the blending of which in words may therefore 
be most readily shown as well as perceived. With these 
sounds (1, m, s, etc.) the rational method deals first. 

2. The teaching of an initial stock of i^honograms before 
any phonetic reading is done. — This makes provision 
whereby, when such reading has once been commenced, it 
may be carried on continuously, and with sufficient wealth 
and variety of material. 

3. The training of the ear in the perception of phonetic blends 
•before phonetic reading is begun. — This is accomplished by 
the teacher pronouncing words, sound by sound, and the 

7 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

children trying to determine in each case the word thus 
pronounced. 

4. An extensive and systematic use of word 2Jlionograms and 
other compound 2^honograms. — The difficulty the child expe- 
riences in determining a new word is, in general, directly 
jn-oportional to the number of parts he has to recognize in 
it. By the use, then, of compound phonograms, which, 
being taught as wholes, are no harder to recognize than 
simple ones, hundreds of long and hard words are practically 
transformed into short and easy ones. Thus the word 
liyhtning, which the child learning by this method reads, 
l-ight-n-ing, he finds no more difficult than the short word 
left, in which, also, he has to recognize and put together 
four separate sounds.^ 

5. A careful grading of the j^honetic ivords introduced. — 
The first phonetic words presented contain but two phono- 
grams each, the next but three, and so on. 

6. A gradual introduction of phonetic words into the sen- 
tence reading. — At first, not more than one such word is 
used to a sentence. This prevents the phonetic work from 
offering any serious impediment to the thought-getting. As 
the child's perception of the blend becomes quicker and 
clearer, the proportion of phonetic words is constantly in- 
creased. Finally, when this perception has become auto- 



1 Other good examples are : — 

m-other-less recognized in three parts ; former 

phonetic teachers making eight of it. 
f-r-ight-ful, four parts, formerly seven, 
f-old-ed, three parts, formerly six. 
s-corn-ful-ly, four parts, formerly nine, 
boy-ish, two parts, formerly four, 
cr-eat^ure, three parts, formerly six. 
r-est-less-ness, four parts, formerly ten. 
f-ish-er-man, four parts, formerly eight, 
r-e-p-eat-ed-ly, six parts, formerly nine. 



I 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

matic, or nearly so, the reading is made almost wholly 
phonetic. 

7. Separate daily drills in the recog^iition of the individual 
pJionograms, and the reading of single phonetic words. — 
These serve two purposes; they lead to expertness, and 
they generate power. Without them, the average child 
would never acquire sufficient facility in sound or word 
recognition to make successful phonetic reading a possibil- 
ity ; while the drill on the phonograms, properly conducted, 
develops great ability in quick conceyitration, and that on the 
phonetic words creates a habit of self help. 

I will now state as well as I can, in a brief way, just how 
the work of teaching children to read by this method is done. 

FIRST HALF-YEAE 

The work of the first half-year is divided into three dis- 
tinct stages, the first of which, under ordinary circumstances, 
requires for its accomplishment, from eight to ten weeks ; 
the second, from three to five weeks ; and the third, what- 
ever remains of the twenty weeks included in the half-year. 

During each of these stages, there are three separate lines 
of work to be done every day. Of these three lines of work, 
one is always principal and two auxiliary. The principal 
line of work is the reading lesson proper (the thought work), 
and the other, or auxiliary lines, are mechanical drills to 
develop expertness in sound and word recognition, and to 
cultivate concentration and self-reliance. 

FIRST STAGE OF THE WORK 

The three daily lines of work carried on during the first 
stage, are : — 

1. SIGHT-READING FROM THE BLACKBOARD. 

2. Eye Training. Drill on the initial stock of phonograms. 

3. Ear Training. Words sounded by teacher, named by 
scholars. 

9 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING- 

Of these three, the principal is the sight-reading. The 
other two are auxiliary, or rather, during this stage of the 
work, preparatory ; as they are designed to lay a foundation 
for the first simple phonetic reading, which begins during 
the next stage of the work. 

The sight-reading, as the name indicates, is reading by 
the sentence method. The material used is an initial stock 
of simple words numbering in all about eighty, and includ- 
ing twenty or thirty which later may be used as phono- 
grams. These are taught in script only, on the blackboard. 
Sentences are used from the beginning. As far as possible 
these are worked up in conversation or story style, several 
in succession relating to one topic. The sentences are con- 
structed by the teacher herself. They are very short and 
simple, and as interesting as she can make them. 

No scholar is ever permitted to utter a sentence until he 
can do it ivithout looking at the blackboard and without a 
break. At the very first symptom of hesitation, he is 
stopped and told that he must not read until he has his 
sentence all ready. He is not required to hurry ; he is 
required simply to read in a natural manner without 
breaks. This simple expedient is more valuable as an aid 
to thought-getting than any other with which I am ac- 
quainted. Let me demonstrate. Suppose I should call off 
before an audience of a hundred intelligent adults, eight or 
ten unrelated words; say, for example, reason, connection, 
provide, delivery, Scope, perusal, benefited, either. How 
many do you think could repeat the list in the order 
given ? I should be very much surprised to find three who 
could do so. But let me read before them an intelligible 
sentence containing twice or thrice as many words, and I 
should be as greatly surprised to find three who could not 
repeat it. Now the mind of the little child works in this 
respect exactly as our minds do. He is called upon to give 
his sentence as a whole, and, in order to do so, he instinc- 

10 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 



tively seeks the associations that bind the words together ; 
that is, he seeks and finds the thought. If, on the contrary, 
he is allowed to call off the words one or two at a time, he 
is more than likely, by whatever method he is taught, to 
read mechanically, either missing the thought altogether or 
getting it very imperfectly. 

Do not infer, however, that this expedient, valuable and, 
indeed, indispensable as it is, is the sole means employed 
to produce thoughtful reading. All the expedients recom- 
mended by the advocates of the sentence method ; — discus- 
sion of and questioning on the subject-matter, manifestation 
of interest by the teacher to catch by sympathy the interest 
of the child, etc., are recommended and practiced. 

The drill on the phonograms (Eye Training) and the word 
naming (Ear Training) constitute, as I have already stated, 
a preparation for the phonetic reading to come later. 

The material for the former is the Initial Stock of 
phonograms, which comprises six consonants, f, 1, m, n, r 
and s ; three long vowels a, e and o, and four compounds, 
ing, ings, ight and ights. These, in correspondence with 
the blackboard reading, are taught only in script, and the 
scholars are drilled upon them until they can name them 
as rapidly as the teacher can present them. Blackboard 
presentation having proved too slow to produce the best 
results, large cards have been prepared to hold up before 
the class, each bearing one of the phonograms in script on 
one side and in print on the other. 

The reason for the selection of these phonograms as the 
Initial Stock, is, briefly stated, that they are at once the 
easiest to use and the most prolific as word builders. 

The word naming (Ear Training), like the drill on phono- 
grams (Eye Training), begins at the very commencement of 
the term, and is practiced daily. 

The teacher at first conducts this exercise by telling little 
stories, giving every here and there some very short and 

11 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

simple word by its sounds instead of as a whole. The 
sounds she utters rapidly, but sejKtrately, thus: f-old, 
s-t-e-p, sh-ip, sh-oe, s-k-ip, s-pr-ing. The children name 
the word in each case as soon as she has thus pronounced 
it. After a few days of this work, most teachers find that 
such a liking for the exercise has developed among their 
pupils, that they dispense with the story-telling and give 
only the words to be determined, thereby being enabled to 
do considerably more drilling in the same time. 

This exercise briskly conducted should never consume 
more than five or ten minutes a day. 

SECOND STAGE OF THE WORK 

In describing the Second Stage of the work, I must 
remind my readers of a statement I made at the outset, 
that in every stage there are three separate lines of work to 
be practiced every day. 

In this stage, as in the First, the principal work of the 
day is the Sight Reading or thought work ; but this, instead 
of being done from the blackboard, with lessons in script, 
is now done from Part I. of the Primer. The material con- 
sists of the same eighty words that were learned during the 
Pirst Stage, not a single new word being added. The sen- 
tences, however, and the little conversations or stories that 
contain them are new. 

The object of this work is twofold. In the first place, it 
accomplishes the transition from script reading to print 
reading; and in the second, it presents the words already 
learned, so often, that before the stage is completed the 
children have become wonderfully ready in recognizing 
them. 

In my Manual of Instruction for Teachers, I have 
described special expedients which may be employed in 
making the change from blackboard to book ; but in 
Brooklyn the best teachers regard all special expedients as 

12 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

superfluous. They put their pupils into the book without 
any particular preparation, and within a week at most, the 
print is read as easily as the script. 

The first auxiliary line of work, the drill on the phono- 
grams, proceeds as in the First Stage, and with the same 
material, but now the print phonograms are used as well as 
those in script. The reason for this is obvious. 

For the second auxiliary •line of work followed in the 
First Stage, is now substituted what is called the Drill on 
the Blend, a combined eye and ear drill, which is, in reality, 
the first plwnetic reading. The material used is a stock of 
about 225 phonetic words containing only such phonograms 
as are included in the initial stock already mentioned, and 
such word phonograms as are found in the initial stock of 
sight words. 

I^one of these 225 phonetic words contains more than 
three phonograms and those first presented contain but 
two each. 

The teacher at the beginning writes upon the blackboard 
some simple phonetic word like fan. Covering the an she 
asks what the / is. The scholars answer by giving the 
sound. She then covers the / and asks what the an is. 

Finally she uncovers the whole word and asks the schol- 
ars to tell what vjord the two sounds together make. If 
they cannot do this, she herself tells, making the /, when 
she pronounces the word, long and prominent. She then 
uses in the same way the other an words, — man, ran, etc., 
— and then words of other series. 

As soon as the pupils have acquired ability to read words 
in this way, the teacher ceases to present them in series, 
and henceforth selects them irregularly. She ceases also to 
assist the pupils by the alternate covering and uncovering 
of the two phonograms in the word. 

There are three great essentials to the successful accom- 
plishment of this stage of the work : — 

13 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

First, after the first few days of blend work, large num- 
bers of words should be determined daily by the scholars ; 
for perception of the blend comes slowly to many, and prac- 
tice only will make them perfect. 

Second, easier words than those provided for the majority 
of the class should be given in abundance for the weaker 
scholars, and these scholars should be constantly exercised. 
The stronger scholars will le^rn whether they are called 
upon to recite or not. They are interested in whatever is 
going on, and will practically take care of themselves; but 
the weaker ones, unless something is constantly demanded 
of them, will make little or no progress. 

Third, the teacher should say something interesting, if pos- 
sible, about every word given to the scholars to determine. 
A drill on twenty words concerning which their curiosity 
is thus excited, will prove far more effective than a drill on 
fifty conducted mechanically and without special interest 

THIRD STAGE OF THE WORK 

The book-reading, or thought work, which constitutes the 
main daily line of work during the Third Stage, is done 
from Part II. of the Primer. It differs from that in Part I. 
in this : That nearly every sentence contains some phonetic 
reading. At first the quantity is small, but one or two pho- 
netic words being used in a sentence, for the reason that 
the children being yet somewhat slow in perception of the 
blend, too many phonetic words would prove an obstruction 
to thought-getting. New sight-words are added from time 
to time, and new phonograms are taught, but in no case are 
both presented in the same lesson. 

In this mixed sight and phonetic reading, as in the first 
sight reading, no pupil is ever allowed to read a sentence 
until he is ready to do so without a halt or break. The 
scholars are now being trained to attend to the mechanical 
without neglecting the intellectual, and more than ever 

14 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

they require to be kept looking for the thought. You are 
not, however, to infer from this statement, that there is any 
marked tendency toward the mechanical. On the contrary,, 
pupils generally, that have reached this point under good 
teaching, manifest an interest in their work that I have 
never seen equaled at the same point among children that 
have been taught by other methods. 

The daily drill on the old phonograms is continued, and 
new phonograms are taught, but these are introduced only 
as they are needed, none preceding by more than a day or 
two the lesson in which it is first required. 

The drill on the blend is also continued, a large number 
of single phonetic words being determined by the pupils 
every day. The reason for this is that the practice in 
phonetic reading afforded by lessons in which there are but 
one or two phonetic words to the sentence, falls far below 
the amount required to insure reasonable proficiency. 

In the Manual which accompanies the readers are lists of 
words from which to make selections for this drill. 

• LATER WOEK 

SECOXD HALF-YEAR 

The work of the second half-year does not differ essen- 
tially from that of the Third Stage in the first half-year. 
New phonograms are, of course, introduced from time to 
time, as well as new sight words ; while the subject-matter 
becomes less simple, and the sentences grow longer. 

During the first and second half-years, the use of sup- 
plementary readers is not recommended ; though many 
Brooklyn teachers employ them after the first half-year 
very successfully. I believe that the best possible pro- 
vision of additional matter, throughout the first year, is that 
which every thoughtful teacher will make for herself, in 
the shape of blackboard lessons in script, which will afford 

15 



THE RATIONAL METHOD IN READING 

extra drill upon words and phonograms already learned. 
Through these blackboard lessons, by teaching in each 
case such additional sight words as the subject may require, 
the teacher may bring the reading into close correlation 
with animal and plant study, etc. 

THIRD AND FOURTH HALF-YEARS 

The last of the phonograms is taught about the middle 
of the third half-year, and the time has then arrived for 
the free use of supplementary readers. Otherwise, the 
work of this half-year differs from that of the preceding 
one, only in grade. 

In the fourth half-year, the only important change made 
beside the provision of subject-matter of a higher grade, is 
the introduction of many phonetic words without the dia- 
critical marks to Avhich the scholars have been accustomed. 
During the third and fourth half-years, i.e. during the 
second year, scholars that have been well taught, will, 
without difficulty, complete from ten to fourteen supple- 
mentary readers, and their mental horizon, if the books 
have been well chosen, will be correspondingly extended. 

FIFTH AND SIXTH HALF-YEARS 

In the fifth and sixth half-years, the latter of which com- 
pletes the course, still more advanced subject-matter is pro- 
vided, and the diacritical marks are entirely omitted from the 
text, though they are still used in blend drills, one of which 
is given at the head of each lesson as a preparation therefor. 

Both of the mechanical drills are practiced daily through- 
out the course of three years to secure full development of 
power as well as to bring together those scholars that have 
pursued the course from the outset and those that have 
entered upon it at various times thereafter. 



16 



The Cecilian Series op Study and Sonq. 

BY JOHN W. TUFTS. 

BOOK L FOR One VOICE. In cloth. Introductory pries, A8 cents, 
BOOK II. For Soprano and Alto Voices. In cloth. Introductory 

price, 60 cents. 
BOOK III, For Unchanged Voices, with Added Notes for Basses and 

Tenors. In cloth. Introductory price, 84 cents. 
BOOK IV. For Mixed Voices. In cloth. Introductory price, S4 cents. 
THE COMMON SCHOOL COURSE. (Abridged.) Introductory price, 

48 cents. 

THE COMMON SCHOOL COURSE. (Complete Course.) Introductory 
price, 60 cents. 

Books I., II., III., and IV., are furnished in hoard covert. 
Price-list on application. 

THE NORMAL MUSIC COURSE. 

FIRST READER. Introductory price, yi cents. 
SECOND READER. Part I. Introductory price, 36 cents. 
SECOND READER. Part II. Introductory price, 36 cents. 
SECOND READER. Complete. Introductory price, 60 cents. 
INTRODUCTORY THIRD READER. Introductory price, 40 cents. 
THIRD READER FOR MIXED VOICES. Introductory price, 60 cents. 
THIRD READER FOR FEMALE OR UNCHANGED VOICES. Intro- 
ductory price, 60 cents. 
HIGH SCHOOL COLLECTION. Introductory price, 90 cents. 
AQEDEAN COLLECTION. Introductoiy price,$i.oo, 
THE EUTERPE AN. Introductory price, $1.2$. 

NORMAL MUSIC CHARTS. First Series. Introductory price, $10.00, 
NORMAL MUSIC CHARTS. Second Series. Introductory price, $10.00. 

A HANDBOOK OF VOCAL MUSIC. 

By John W Tufts. In cloth. Introductory price, ^1.50. 

POLYHYMNIA. 

A COLLECTION OF QUARTETS AND CHORUSES FOR MALE 
VOICES. Compiled and arranged by John W. Tufts. 

Every needed help in vocal music, for pupil and teacher, supplied in the best 
and most available form. Correspondence invited. 

SILVER, BURDETT & COMPANY, 

2 J 9-223 Columbus Avenue, Boston^ 

29-3J B 19th St. 378-388 Waba«h Ave. 1328 Arch St. 

NEW YORK. CHICAGO. PHILADELPHIA. 



t!!N IP 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



SfSIsE 



THE RATIONAL METHOD 




First 
Year 



Second 
Year 



019 843 698 7 



PRIMER 




Material : Conversations 

Complete Book. — Introductory price, 36 cents. 

Part I. — Reading by the Word Method. Introductory price, 
22 cents. 

Part II. — Sight and Phonetic Reading Combined. Introduc- 
tory price, 24 cents. 

FIRST READER 

Material : Conversations and Stories 

Complete Book, — Introductory price, 36 cents. 

Part I. — Sight and Phonetic Reading. Largely Review Ex- 
ercises. Introductory price, 22 cents. 

Part II. — Sight and Phonetic Reading. Advance Work. In- 
troductory price, 24 cents. 

SECOND READER 

Material : Stories and Poetry. Literary and Ethical 

Complete Book. — Introductory price, 44 cents. 

Part I. — Sight and Phonetic Reading. Advance Work. In- 
troductory price, 24 cents. 

Part II. — Sight and Phonetic Reading. The Remaining 
Phonograms. Reading with All the Phonograms. 
Introductory price, 28 cents. 

THIRD READER 

Material : Stories, Poetry, etc., from Histoiy, Folk Lore, 
and Standard Fiction. Literary and Ethical ' 

Introductory price, 48 cents. 

Sight and Phonetic Reading. Diacritical marks omitted from 
the easier and more familiar Phonetic Words. 

MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR TEACHERS 

Introductory price, 36 cents 

PHONETIC CARDS 

First Set. — To Accompany the Primer. Introductory price, 36 cents. 
Second Set. — To Accompany the First Reader. Introductory price, 48 

cents. 
Third Set. — To Accompany the Second Reader. Introductory price, 36 

cents. 



SILVER, BURDETT k COMPANY: New York, Boston, Chicago 



LIBI 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^ 




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